Folding roller for use in a buckle folding machine

ABSTRACT

A roller, e.g., a folding roller, having a main body portion with integrally formed end bands adjacent the ends of the body portion, the outside diameter of the bands being greater than the diameter of the body portion disposed between the end bands. The surface of the body portion between end bands is roughened with randomly spaced pot-marks preferably formed by an electrical discharge method.

United States Patent [191 Rueckert Mar. 12, 1974 FOLDING ROLLER FOR USE IN A BUCKLE FOLDING MACHINE [76] Inventor: Arnold F. Rueckert, 3150 Roberts Ave., Bronx, NY. 10461 22 Filed: Dec.26, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 318,165

[52] US. Cl. 226/193 [51] Int. Cl B65h 17/20 [58] Field of Search 226/190, 193, 196; 29/l23, 29/110, 121 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,719,978 3/1973 Clyne...- 29/121 R 3,619,881 l1/l97l' Billsetal. 29/121R Primary Examiner-Allen N. Knowles Attorney, Agent, or FirmArthur T. Fattibene [5 7] ABSTRACT A roller, e.g., a folding roller, having a main body portion with integrally formed end bands adjacent the ends of the body portion, the outside diameter of the bands being greater than the diameter of the body portion disposed between the end bands. The surface of the body portion between end bands is roughened with randomly spaced pot-marks preferably formed by an electrical discharge method.

2 Claims, Drawing Figures PATENTED "AR 3 2 i974 IIA FIG

FIG

FOLDING ROLLER FOR USE IN A BUCKLE FOLDING MACHINE PROBLEM AND PRIOR ART Heretofore folding rollers adapted for use in buckle folding machines were formed of round stock to define grooves tended to decrease the stiffness of such rollers.

As a result in operation such rollers tend to whip. Such whipping in turn resulted in considerable noise. The whipping and resulting noise factor is further aggravated as the length of the roller in a given application is increased.

It has also be observed that rollers knurled with longitudinal lands and grooves tend to wear as each land is placed in contact with the paper or material being fed during a folding operation on each revolution of the roller. Also experience has shown that rollers knurled with lands and grooves tend to accummulate dust or lint within the grooves thereby causing the gripping quality of the rollers to be gradually diminished. Therefore to maintain gripping efficiency of such rollers it was nccto periodically clean the rollers, and thereby resulting in considerable down time of the machine in which such rollers are used. Further rollers so knurled were incapable of operating on certain types of paper, e.g., high gloss paper. Thus when high gloss paper was run through a buckle folding machine having such rollers it was heretofore necessary to interchange such knurled rollers with rubber banded rollers. Also because the folding rollers heretofore known required separate and distinct bands, additional time and labor was required to be expended in making such rollers as the respective bands had to be separately machined, hardened, ground and press fitted to the rollers.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The foregoing objects and other features of the in- I vention are attained by a folding roller being formed of suitable round stock material in which the end bands are integrally formed with the main body of the roller with the surface of the intermediate body portion between the end bands being roughened by randomly spaced pot-marks, e.g., a roughening produced by electrical discharging. The rollers so formed are preferably made by turning the round stock to define a main body area. The end journals are then turned necked and faced as required. With the preliminary machining done, the roller is then induction hardened; and thereafter checked for straightness.

After checking for straightness the main body area of the roller is ground to diameter. Also the end journals are ground to diameter.

The intermediate portion of the body between end bands is then machined to diameter after which the surface of the intermediate body portion is roughened or pitted in a random manner, e.g., by electrical discharge method. The roller so formed is again checked for straightness and the end band portion finished to size. The roller is thus formed of a single unitary piece of round stock with the end bands machined integral of the material of the roller, with the intermediate body portion randomly roughened to provide the gripping surface.

FEATURES A feature of this invention resides in the provision of an improved roller and method of forming the same in which the end bands are integrally formed with the body portion of the roller, and which body is provided with a randomly formed roughened gripping surface.

Another feature resides in the provision of a folding roller and method of making the same in which the roller is rendered self-cleaning.

Another features resides in the provision of a folding roller constructed so as to render it possible to be utilized with all kinds of paper.

Another feature resides in the provision of a folding roller constructed so as to impart thereto maximum stiffness.

Another feature resides in a folding roller construction in which wear is minimized to result in a long useful life for the roller.

Another feature resides in a folding roller constructed in a manner in which its operating efficiency is greatly increased to result in increased production.

Another feature resides in an improved roller construction and method of forming the same which results in an increased Rockwell hardness imparted to the rollcr.

Another features resides in the provision of anjmproved folding roller in which a surface portion thereof is randomly roughened by an electrical discharge process.

Other features and advantages will become more readily apparent when considered in view of the specification and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a roller embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the improved roller construction of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings there is shown an improved roller construction 10, which is particularly applicable for use in a buckle folding machine. Such buckle fold ing machine (not shown) is widely used in the graphic arts. Generally the folding rollers of such machines are utilized to feed a continuous web or sheet of material in a given path to a folder plate.

As best seen in FIG. 1 the folding roller 10 is formed of round stock material to define a main body portion 11. End journals 12 and 13 are suitably connected to each end of the main body portion 11 to provide the means by which the roller 10 may be suitably journalled in place on a buckle folding machine.

In the illustrated embodiment, the main body portion 11 includes end bands 11A, 11A disposed adjacent the end portion of the roller and an intermediate body portion 118 disposed therebetween. Preferably the end bands 11A, 1 1A may be integrally formed from the material of the main body portion 11. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the outside diameter of the end bands 11A, 11A are formed so as to be slightly greater than the diameter of the intermediate body portion 118. For example the outside diameter of the end bands 11A, 11A may exceed the outside diameter of the intermediate body portion 118 by approximately 0.0004 to 0.0006 inch. However, it will be understood that this difference may vary in accordance to the thickness of the paper or material which the roller is adapted to handle.

In this invention the intermediate portion 118 of the roller is provided with a randomly roughened surface 14. This is attained by providing or forming in the surface of the intermediate portion 118 randomly locatedpot-m arks or depressions 15. This gives the intermediate portion 118 of the roller 10 the roughened surface 14 desired to grip and feed the web material when used on a folding roller in a buckle folding machine. it has been discovered that the roughened pot-marked surface 14 can be readily formed by an electric discharging method.

That is the intermediate portion 118 of the roller 10 is subjected to electrified field in which electric arcing or sparking is permitted to impinge on the surface 14 of the intermediate portion 11B of the roller to randomly form therein the pot-marks or depressions 15.

In operation, the rollers 10 thus formed are positioned in pairs or groups of pairs in a buckle folding machine with the band portion 11A, 11A of adjacent rollers 10 being disposed in rolling engagement, and the complementary intermediate portions 11B of adjacent rollers functioning to feed the paper or web material therebetween.

Because of the randomly formed pot-marks on surface 14 formed on the roller, the arrangement is such that the roller 10 has imparted thereon greater stiffness and longer wearing qualities than the conventionally known rollers. This is attributed to the fact that the strength of the roller is not reduced by the geometry of orderly arranged longitudinally extending lands or grooves. By randomly pot-marking the surface 14 of the roller 10 as described, the section modulus along any given cross-sectional area of the intermediate body portion 118 would be greater than that of conventionally formed knurled rollers. Thus the stiffness of the improved roller described is enhanced. By enhancing the stufiness of the roller 10., the tendency for the roller construction described to whip is greatly minimized. This increased stiffness further results in quieter operation. Also the Rockwell hardness is increased by the electric discharge process, and wear reduced. The roller described has imparted thereto a longer useful life. It has been discovered that due to the randomly formed pot-marked surface 14, a gripping quality is imparted I to the roller 10 which renders it readily adaptable to various types of paper including the highly glossed types of paper. Also the randomly pot-marked surface renders the roller self-cleaning.

A preferred method for forming and constructing the roller 10 described is to center drill the ends of a round stock material and turn the main body portion 11 of the roller to a given diameter. The neck and face journals are then turned to a given diameter. Suitable keyways are then milled to an after grind depth.

The main body portion 11 is then subjected to induction hardening and thereafter checked for straightness.

The main body portion 10 is then ground as may be required and the end journals l3, l3 grounded to diameter.

The intermediate portion 1 1B of the main roller body 11 is then ground to a specified diameter. With the intermediate body portion 1 18 thus formed it is then subjected to an electric discharge process which results in the surface 14 thereof being randomly pot-marked, e.g., to a 300 scale of the electric discharge process. Upon completion of the electrical discharge process, the roller 10 is again checked for straightness. The construction of the folding roller 10 is completed by finish grinding the end bands 11A, 11A. In integrally forming the end bands 11A, 11A to the main body portion of the roller the bands 11A, 11A are formed with an outside diameter that exceeds the diameter of the intermediate portion 11B, by approximately 0.0004 to 0.0006 inch.

While the invention has been described with respect to a particular embodiment thereof, it will be readily understood and appreciated that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: l. A folding roller adapted for use in a buckle folding machine comprising:

an elongated roller having a main body, said main body including a pair of spaced apart end bands and an intermediate body portion disposed between said end bands, said end bands having an outside diameter which is slightly greater than the outside diameter of said intermediate body portion, said intermediate body portion having a randomly formed roughened surface about the periphery thereof, said band and intermediate body portion being integrally connected, and end journals connected to the respective ends of main body. 2. A folding roller for use in a buckle folding machine comprising:

an elongated roller, said elongated roller including an intermediate body portion and a pair of spaced apart end bands, said end bands being connected to said body portion whereby said said body portion is disposed between said spaced apart end bands, said end bands having an outside diameter which is slightly greater than the outside diameter of said intermediate body portion, so as to accommodate the thickness of the paper adapted to be handled by said roller, said intermediate body portion having a roughened surface formed about the periphery thereof, said roughened surface being defined by sapced apart randomly formed, electrically discharged, potmarked depressions,

and end journals connected to the ends of said roller. 

1. A folding roller adapted for use in a buckle folding machine comprising: an elongated roller having a main body, said main body including a pair of spaced apart end bands and an intermediate body portion disposed between said end bands, said end bands having an outside diameter which is slightly greater than the outside diameter of said intermediate body portion, said intermediate body portion having a randomly formed roughened surface about the periphery thereof, said band and intermediate body portion Being integrally connected, and end journals connected to the respective ends of main body.
 2. A folding roller for use in a buckle folding machine comprising: an elongated roller, said elongated roller including an intermediate body portion and a pair of spaced apart end bands, said end bands being connected to said body portion whereby said said body portion is disposed between said spaced apart end bands, said end bands having an outside diameter which is slightly greater than the outside diameter of said intermediate body portion, so as to accommodate the thickness of the paper adapted to be handled by said roller, said intermediate body portion having a roughened surface formed about the periphery thereof, said roughened surface being defined by sapced apart randomly formed, electrically discharged, pot-marked depressions, and end journals connected to the ends of said roller. 